1956 lincoln premiere

56yblock

56yblock

Senior Member
hello everybody here's my new car 1956 lincoln premiere coupe with a 368 ci , i need to rebuild the automatic transmission it's a turbo drive 3 speed, does anyone knows where i found the rebuid kit for it thanks for help me
 

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The '56 Lincoln is one of my all time favorites. In an era known for sometimes over the top styling, Ford kept the Lincoln elegant and understated while maintaining a futuristic theme. The transmission is nothing more than a heavy duty Ford-O-Matic, but few if any Fordo parts will interchange with the Turbo Drive. A short web search did not turn up any rebuild kits so it looks like you'll need to buy the needed parts individually. You might start here: https://www.lincolnoldparts.com/ with a phone call. Another possibility is Kanter Auto Products: https://www.kanter.com/index.aspx . eBay is another possibility, and these guys: https://www.fatsco.net/. Also: http://www.autotran.us/fmkits1.html . Good luck!
 
Beautiful Car congratulations! Might be helpful to list where in the country you are at for local rebuilding…
 
yes i'm located in France, i'll tried to explain my trouble with the automatic transmission, when i put in return it don't works, it's like in Park or Neutral , drive an low it works good , it just Return don't works , and my oil smele of burn it's no good, i must to rebuild it ....
 
Dobie Gillis said:
Contact ___ to confirm before ordering.
Click to expand...
100% agree. The more expensive or difficult a part is to find & buy, I definitely prefer to call or contact someone personally to make sure they have what I need.
They often can also offer suggestions for other needed parts I may not be aware of, or at least offer contact information for other suppliers who can provide parts they don't have in stock.
 
The Medium case Ford-O-Matics came out for heavier duty use beginning in the 1955 model year. Initially, they were used behind the 341 powered Lincoln cars but were geared up for use behind the Ford & Mercury 312 as well as the Lincoln 368 applications in 1956. Lincoln changed over to the new large case transmissions in 1958 when dual range Cruise-O-Matic transmissions came on line.

Ford Motor Co. used different transmission names for different Brand named cars like Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln. I guess Lincoln-O-Matic had no ring to it so they called them the Turbo Drive Transmission when installed in the Lincoln cars. They are very similar to the Mercury and Ford medium case transmissions in those years before the Cruise-O-Matic name took hold for Ford and Mercury cars and Dual range transmissions became the normal use unit. Lincoln kept the Turbo Drive name for a long time but there was also a Multi Drive unit used in 1958 through 1960. A lot depended on what engine application was chosen.

Fatsco and Northwest would be the two to check first for parts. Find the factory manual for the Turbo Drive in Lincoln applications so you can have all the information needed. The bad thing about Lincolns and some of the other FoMoCo automatic equipped cars of this era is that the engine has to be removed to get the transmissions out in many cases.

Any mechanic can overhaul these old transmissions but they are not common so the mechanic would need all the information they could get to be able to do a good job of it. These units are not like the modern types in a lot of ways. Soft parts like gaskets and seals should be available but hard parts are a different story. They are out there but it may take time to locate them if any are needed.
 
thanks for help me, what do you think about Kanter.com, i saw there's 2 rebuild kits for 1956, 1957,lincoln automatic transmission turbo drive
 
i have the maintenance manual 1956 lincoln "the blue book" and the 1951 1958 automatic transmission maintenance manual "the yellow book"
 
I'd recommend Northwest also, and they are all expensive, but better availablity at Northwest.
I hope everything comes out alright. It's hard enough now to find a transmission specialist in the USA that is familiar with the old Ford-O-Matics.
Make sure you loan the transmission shop manual to your mechanic who is doing the work.
 
With the old transmissions you sort of have to take what ever is available. I've heard of folks having stack up problems with clutch plates due to different thickness. This can lead to confusion so it's important to order from some outfit that can back up what they sell. O-rings are another thing. Some of the Borg Warner designs have some flat or square/rectangular cross section o-rings and some sources sell the round cross section types.

There are a few guys that specialize in the later Thunderbird transmissions and they should know of any substitute parts from later transmissions that can be used in older units. It pays to reach out to these folks sometimes just to find out if there are any tricks to the trade.
 
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